Trouble Squared
by Dayanaria
Summary: When the cure for the apotoxin-4869 causes a mutagenic effect and an unexpected incident occurs at a Kaitou Kid heist, can Shinichi handle suddenly having to live a quadruple life?  Eventual Shinichi/Kaito
1. Chapter 1 Is It Fate?

Author's Notes:

1_ Disclaimer – If I owned any of this besides the plot I wouldn't be writing a fan fiction about it, would I? This disclaimer will apply to the entire story so that I don't have to keep reposting it.

2_ This will be a chapter fiction, however sometimes I might have to update in drabbles or it could end up being weeks in-between updates.

3_ This will be a shonen-ai and possibly even a shojo-ai (I'm still debating the shojo-ai part) – you have been warned!

4_ I have not watched the anime series (either one), I've only read the mangas and seen a couple of the DC movies, as such I will be following events and names as they happen according to the manga.

5_ I apologize in advance, I don't have a ton of time to devote to research about the Japanese culture, so I will be using what I DO know mixed with American culture – if this causes any confusion or hurt feelings I am sincerely sorry! *bows*

6_ I do like to use some Japanese words in my fanfics, if there is anything you're not sure about just ask as I'm always willing to help a fellow fan!

7_ Comments, critiques, suggestions and questions are all welcome and I will do my upmost to respond back!

**PLOT SUMMERY:**

When the cure for the apotoxin-4869 causes a mutagenic effect and an unexpected incident occurs at a Kaitou Kid heist, can Shinichi handle suddenly having to live a quadruple life? Eventual Shinichi/Kaito

_**Is it Fate?**_

With a deep sigh a small boy shoved his hands deeper into his pockets and stared at the newspaper stand he was standing next to as he waited for someone. Intensely blue eyes hidden behind overlarge glasses stared at the dominating headline that covered the entire front page "The Computer Hacker Murderer Strikes Again!" It was difficult for a casual observer to know what the boy was thinking about, but for those who had come to know Edogawa Conan they could tell he was both annoyed and fascinated with the publication.

_If only I wasn't trapped in this kid body. _He thought for the millionth time with a depressed sigh. He was sure that if he was his true self, the High School Detective Kudo Shinichi, he would have been able to at least GO to the crime scenes and quite possibly crack the case before another person died. As it was, being a first grader didn't qualify him to be invited to something like that, despite the incredible report he had developed with the Beika Police Department. For once he cursed his luck that hadn't allowed him to end up near one of the murder scenes – usually those things had a nasty habit of always occurring when he just happened to be in the immediate vicinity – and that The Idiot Detective that he was currently staying with had somehow managed to break his leg, leaving him unable to leave the hospital to help on the cases. At least Hattori had been called to a previous scene that had occurred close to where he lived, which had allowed Shinichi to become privy to details unknown to the general public. What Hattori had discovered had been unlike anything either detective had ever encountered before, so it was no wonder to either of them that the regular police officers hadn't been able to solve it and why it still stumped both of them.

_Up until a week ago the murders happened in random parts of the country, _Shinichi thought, trying to piece the facts that he did know together, _but the last three have occurred in Tokyo within the last two days. On the scene Hattori went to it was obvious that someone had tampered with the room, since according to the guy's neighbors he was a slob, but his apartment had been spotlessly clean with no fingerprints left behind – not even the victim's. On top of that his computer was left behind but the inside components had all been removed, leaving behind an empty shell; something that was both incredibly clever and risky to do. Clever because a motherboard and memory drive were easier to carry around than the full tower, but risky because a small nick on a sharp corner would leave behind DNA evidence, not to mention the time it would take to do all of that. _Frowning in thought Conan brought his left arm across his chest to help brace his right elbow as he cupped his chin with that hand. _Also there was no media of any kind left behind at the scene, digital or print, but apart from that nothing else was stolen and according to Hattori the guy had had some incredibly expensive video equipment. The oddest part of the whole situation was the victim himself; the doctors had been unable to determine the cause of death. Despite being a slob he had been very fit and healthy and by all rights should have been still alive, except he obviously wasn't anymore. _

Even now, three weeks later Shinichi still got a deep chill in his heart at _that_ piece of information, he knew of a poison that had been created for just such a purpose and had even been the first victim of it. Granted he hadn't physically died, but he might as well as have - he couldn't go back to being Kudo Shinichi until both the organization that had done this to him was brought down as well as a permanent antidote was created. Although there was no proof as to the culprit all of Shinichi's instincts screamed that THEY were behind the serial murders.

Strange and unusual murders in quick succession with the same MO and with excessive scene clean up; check.

Deadly poison that left no trace of itself after the victim died; double check.

A dozen victims with no other obvious connections to each other apart from being computer hackers whose data was all stolen; triple check.

Four recent crime scenes discovered within four hours of each other that ranged from Tokyo, Osaka, Shibya to Hokkaido with no possible way for them to have been done by the same person and with no manifests of any suspicious people going to or from each scene – which hinted at a large and well organized group; the final nail in the coffin.

Infuriatingly though he couldn't do anything with this information apart from pass most of it (he only left out the part about him being poisoned and shrunk by the same poison) as well as his suspicions as to the motive behind the homicides on to the FBI, who couldn't do much themselves either. Not until they could determine the next victim BEFORE they became the next victim could they act on any information that they may or may not get from said person, and absolutely nothing could be done about finding an antidote to the poison without having a sample of said substance. And for his part, the only thing he could do is to keep his eyes open and try to continue to put the pieces together without being too obvious as to what he was doing.

"Conan-kun!" Snapped out of his thoughts, Conan turned to face the owner of the voice and instantly put on his happy Conan mask at the sight of the Shonen-tantei running towards him, Ayumi-chan out in front and waving enthusiastically to her crush. "Sorry we're late, Genta-kun slipped into the mud and had to go back to change." The little girl explained breathlessly while the larger of the two boys behind her grinned sheepishly and scratched at the ten yen-sized bald spot on the left side of his head.

"That is why I told you to slow down a little the first time." The smaller, almost nerdish boy said with authority and crossed his arms over his chest while putting on his best superior-than-thou attitude.

"An' I said that if you hadn't taken so long in the first place I wouldn't have felt the need to rush!" The larger boy huffed angrily, almost looking for a minute like he wanted to pound Mitsuhiko into an even smaller superior-than-thou pancake.

"Maw, knock it off already you two!" Ayumi-chan said with exasperation, having apparently already listened to this 'discussion' before. "Where's Ai-chan?" She inquired suddenly, instantly destroying Mitsuhiko's airs with the abrupt change in topic.

"She, Takagi-san and Sato-san went to go get the snacks and save our seats already since we didn't know how late you were going to be." Conan explained as he led the group of three real children inside the crowded movie theatre he had been standing outside of. "Hakase couldn't make it, he had to take his Beatle in for repairs and Ran-nee-chan has a karate match to go to. Shiratori-san and Kobayashi-sensei are also here but the three detectives might have to leave early to help work on the Hacker Murders." He finished the last bit as an after-thought to which Ayumi-chan giggled, obviously getting the point that their favorite police detectives and teacher were going out on a date without actually going out on a "date".

Once they had gotten settled and were watching the movie - a cheesy wannabe detective movie in Shinichi's opinion - any other thought of the predictable plot was cut off from his mind as he felt both of his arms being grabbed by the two girls who sat on either side of him at a particularly graphic scene. Blushing slightly from the unexpected contact, he glanced fondly at Ai and Ayumi with a small smirk cutting through his indifferent expression; although it was more of an expression an older brother would use rather than a friend or romantic interest. Without warning he felt his mind freeze cold and an instant sense of horror leapt his senses into overdrive as he felt hostile eyes briefly pierce the back of his head. Next to him Ai also stiffened in blind terror, but this time not because of the movie – she had felt them too, the poisonous eyes of the Black Organization as they slithered over the unsuspecting audience.


	2. Chapter 2 It Is Fate

_**It Is Fate.**_

Just as quickly as it had come, the eyes with their feelings of dread and foreboding were gone, leaving Conan with a hollow sense of relief although Ai still clung to him desperately. Doing his best to glance around the theatre with both of his arms being confiscated Conan couldn't see anyone he knew or that was suspicious looking; which did not help his nerves any. _Is it someone new? Or did they leave the theatre after not finding the quarry that they were looking for?_ Seeing his unusual behavior Sato, who was sitting behind her charges with the other three adults, leaned over to whisper in his ear.

"Are you alright Conan?" Her voice was full of concern tinged with fond affection. It was strange to see Conan distressed; especially considering what was currently being shown on the screen was far less graphic than several murders he had come across. With a flash of inspiration he seized his chance to investigate without err… extra attachments.

"I have to use the bathroom, but…" He whispered back but rather than finish the sentence he looked pointedly to the death grips on his arms letting his dilemma become apparent without embarrassing the girls. Smiling in understanding Sato leaned back and elbowed Takagi roughly in the arm to get his attention. Startled out of whatever daydream he had been having - as it was obvious he wasn't watching the movie since he was slouched in his chair looking down at the ground in depression - he looked over at her with surprise and a little chagrin at having been so roughly treated.

"Take Conan's seat for a while." Sato ordered him. With a quick glance at the boy's situation her junior's depression seemed to get worse as he let out a deep sigh and only nodded when it looked like he was going to get another pointy elbow rather than the trusting embrace seeking comfort like he had been hoping for. Quietly getting up out of his seat he slid past Sato, Shiratori and Kobayashi – who had her boyfriend also in a closed-eyed, arm breaking death grip – and went down one row as Conan shook Ayumi and Ai to get them to open their eyes and understand what was happening.

"I have to go use the bathroom." He whispered to their confused and worried faces. Ayumi seemed to accept his explanation at face value and with great reluctance let go of him, but it was obvious that Ai knew his real reasons and wasn't as keen on the idea. "I'll be careful, I just want to go look." He murmured in quite reassurance, keeping his voice so low that he wasn't sure if she heard him or not. After a moment's hesitation, Ai nodded and with even greater reluctance than Ayumi transferred her clutch to her legs as Conan got out of his seat and Takagi took it over. "Bathroom." He said simply over his shoulder as the two real boys finally realized something was up and gazed at him with suspicious curiosity. Neither one of them bought the 'bathroom act', they knew Conan too well and were certain that he had smelled another case and was going to go investigate and leave them behind –again-. However any complaints they had were lodged in their throats as one of the characters in the movie let out a scream and their attention was brought sharply back to their reason for being here.

_Thank goodness for short attention spans. _Shinichi thought wirily with great relief. This was going to be dangerous enough on his own, much less with the boys following him around. Pausing to blink for a moment when he got through the doors as he was suddenly bathed in brighter lighting he came up with his plan of attack. _I didn't notice anyone inside the theatre, which probably means that they only glanced inside; however I don't recall seeing any light from the doors opening which means that they didn't physically come inside. Yes, that place, it's the only explanation…_

Taking off as fast as his short legs could take him, Conan dodged around the legs of several adults who had just emerged from another screen room causing several loud complaints about wild children and a lack of respect for their elders. Pointedly ignoring their comments just as pointedly as he ignored the surprised yelp of protest from one of the theatre's employees, he ran head strongly up the stairs that were marked "Employees Only". He was just reaching for the handle of the door that led to the projector equipment room for their screen when his shirt was grabbed roughly from the back causing him to gag from the force. Before he could do anything but flail his arms and legs in protest he was bodily raised several feet off of the ground by his shirt collar.

"And just where do you think **you're** going?" The employee he had just bypassed had caught him. It was a teenager, roughly about the same age as he was supposed to be, with slicked back hair, spotless uniform and overly-white teeth. _Probably just got them whitened recently too._ Shinichi's mind offered instantly. Over-all the effect pointed at a well-to-do socialite personality, which likely meant he was only working here to "gain experience" if the teenager's soft hands gave any other indication.

"There was something weird happening up here!" Conan said frantically, thinking fast to try and at least get the teen to **put him back down. **Even after being stuck as Conan for over a year he still wasn't used to being manhandled. Didn't adults realize just how infuriating being treated like a grocery bag was? And the havoc being lifted like this did to his shirts! He didn't think he had any left that hadn't been stretched out at least once from some random person using them like a leash; even **Ran** wasn't an exception to this embarrassing treatment. "There was this weird guy looking out through the viewing window, but he wasn't wearing a theatre uniform and so I thought he was going to do something to our movie but since I want to know what happens at the end I thought I'd come up here and ask him to leave it alone and…" Whatever else he was going to babble was instantly ignored as he was dropped three feet onto the floor and only instincts gained from years of playing soccer allowed him to land without twisting an ankle. Ignoring Conan's yelp of surprise the teen burst through the equipment room with a holler so loud Shinichi wouldn't be surprised if the whole building heard him.

"Ryo-san! Didn't the manager warn you about no…?" Whatever else the teen was going to say was cut off with a gurgle of shock as realized the room was empty. "Wha? Where is he?" Confusion replacing consternation, the teen, called Natushi if his name-tag was correct, began looking around the bulky projector equipment as if looking to see if his co-worker was hiding behind them. Already knowing what he would find – a fat load of nothing – Shinichi took to looking at what he didn't expect to find. Instantly his eyes landed on a bundle of cords not attached to anything. _The black one is a power cord for a laptop, the blue an internet connection cable, but this red one? What is this? _Crouching down to the unusual cord he tried to puzzle out what it could be for, but even with his extensive knowledge he was drawing a blank.

"Ney, ney, Nii-san is there **supposed** to be someone up here?" Conan asked with wide-eye curiosity, and bringing the teen's attention to a focus on the small boy.

"Yes, we've been having some recent troubles with this particular projector, so the manager assigned one employee to remain in the room the entire time to fix it instantly just in case of problems as he can't afford to replace it yet. However I noticed that Ryo-san, err, that's Nibiki Ryo-san, has been taking advantage of this and has been letting random guys into here so that they can watch the movie for free. Yesterday the manager finally caught him at it and warned him that if it happened again Ryo-san would be fired." Natushi-san answered automatically, as if he had been asked by an adult with authority rather than a brat, and only after he had finished explaining felt it odd that it hadn't bothered him to answer truthfully in the first place.

"And does Hibiki-nii-san use a laptop in here?" Another innocently curious question and a mesmerizing blue gaze that didn't leave room to try to ignore or by-pass giving a response piped up from Natushi's knee-height.

"Yes, he always carried it with him, like it was his shadow or something. I don't know what he did on it though, just lots of typing like he was a writer or something." Another answer given instantly and honestly without thought or second guesses. With a discomforting feeling Natushi gazed down at the crossed-armed child who seemed to be deep in thought; he prided himself on being tight-lipped about other people's business, but in less than a minute he had just broken that trust three times – to a **kid** no less – and even worse he didn't feel bad about it either. Rather Natushi felt like he had been released from a burden he hadn't even realized he had been carrying.

"I see!" The boy said with an incredulous voice and a face to match, like he had just received the answer to the meaning of life rather than a humdrum everyday factoid. "Well thanks Nii-san! I can go and tell my friends that nothing will interrupt the movie then!" Conan said cheerily and with a wave ran back down the stairs leaving an awe-struck, but intensely confused employee behind. After all, hadn't Natushi just informed him that the projector might go down if there was no one to watch over it?

_That red cord, I know what it is now. If that is the case then this Hibiki Ryo guy is likely going to be their next target. _Dashing outside the theatre, Conan was instantly rewarded with a glimpse of what he had been looking for. The sleek black body of a Porsche 356 A just turning around the corner of the block, and in the instant before it disappeared out of sight he could see three people inside of it. In the front had been the expected figures of Gin and Vodka, but in the back was a guy obviously from a different world than them. He had been nerdy to the extreme, and looked rather like a mouse that had just unknowingly but willing climbed into the food bowl of the house cat. Without hesitation or a thought to the future consequences should he get caught, Conan took off running after the retreating foreign car and pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number he had memorized ages ago.

"Moshi, moshi?" Inquired a voice through his phone that screamed tough femininity and no nonsense practicality tinged with a devil-may-care recklessness.

"Jodie-sensei! It's me, Conan! I know who's going to be the next hacker victim. His name is Hibiki Ryo, and he is already with Gin. We're outside the Atiki Movie Theatre." Between running and speaking, Conan was quickly running out of breath and decided to stick to the facts he did know. "They're headed north!" Rounding the corner he couldn't help the slight sliver of a grim smile that crossed his lips, the black car was stuck at a light, and with any luck he might get close enough to try out Agasa's newest invention. Ignoring his phone for a few brief seconds so that he could put on a burst of speed he dodged around the other pedestrian's without drawing too much attention to himself. To the casual observer he would appear to be nothing more than a brat escaping from whatever adult was supposed to be supervising him. Just as the light turned green he was within range of the car and raised his right arm and aimed his watch; however he didn't press the small silver button on the inside side that would release his tranquilizer dart, rather he pressed the copper one on the opposite side. With a small pop a tiny gray bullet-like capsule shot out of the bulky watch and almost instantly a tiny gray spot splattered on the hub-cap of the car. Although it was noticeable to Conan, who knew what and where to look for, to almost anyone else it would appear to be nothing more than a spot of dirt. Allowing a razor grin to change his childish appearance into something more predatory he returned his attention to his cell phone and the American FBI agent who was trying to get his attention and more details.

"Sorry about that Jodie-sensei, I managed to tag their car with a tracer." Reaching up with his left hand he pressed the switch on his glasses that made the antenna and screen activate. "They are headed towards the bridge, can you get here soon? Good." He nodded with satisfaction as she replied in the affirmative, although he could sense her reluctance to involve the boy again. As soon as he hung up Conan quickly began dialing another number although he knew that Kobayashi-sensei wouldn't get it until after the movie – he just hoped she wouldn't worry too much until then. The message left he in quick succession dialed Ran, Hakase and Hattori, although his story changed between the explanations between the two former and the two latter. Kobayashi-sensei and Ran now believed he had gotten bored of the movie and headed over to Agasa's while Agasa and Hattori knew the real reasons. He was still on the phone swapping theories with Hattori when he saw Jodie and James pull up to the curb to pick him up. Without so much as the courtesy to finish listening to the tangent that Hattori was on he said goodbye and hung up, completely ignoring the Osakan detective's annoyed cries to get his attention and climbed into the door that Jodie had opened for him.

"They've been stopped at the same spot for the last two minutes." Conan explained swiftly without preamble as he double checked the blinking spot on the green screen that covered his left eye.

"Got it." James said with just as much professionalism as Conan and easily pulled the car back into traffic and made the right to head to the bridge.

"You know I'm grateful for this cool kid," Jodie-sensei began the moment the car's tires left the curb side. "But honestly, getting close enough to plant a tracer on a moving car! That's way too dangerous!"

"Oh, but I didn't have to get that close." Conan said as he sweetly smiled up to the confused blonde, and lifted up his watch proudly. "Agasa-Hakase made a new modification to my watch. I can now launch a small tracer capsule up to a distance of fifteen feet by pressing this button here." As she gazed in wonder at this newest "toy" of Conan's he continued explaining its perks while pulling if off his wrist. "I can only have one shot loaded at a time, however it's extremely easy to reload myself so I can carry a few extra on me just in case." In a demonstration he followed his words with actions, and with just a couple of clicks had opened the back of the watch and pulled out a gray capsule that was small even in his tiny hands from a slim eye-glass case he kept in his shirt pocket. "Also the signals of these tracers are different from the button ones I have, so I can track both individually or simultaneously if I have to."

"The kid has better equipment than WE do." James laughed in the front seat as Jodie was left in speechless wonderment. What she wouldn't do to have something like that, much less any of the boys other tools. It was a shame that Agasa-Hakase had refused the governmental offer the American's had made to buy his inventions, however she could also completely understand his reason for doing so. It was one thing to help out a boy he viewed as a grandson to bring down criminals and keep him safe and another to help out foreign strangers who would use it for warfare.

"Turn right at the next light and then head into the outskirts of the city, Black-san." Conan instructed as he noticed that they were nearing the blinking spot. "They still haven't moved…" Frowning, he felt his tension rise to new levels. It had been nearly ten minutes now since Gin's car had stopped moving, and no scenario Shinichi ran through his head had a happy explanation as to why. When they were close to the spot, but not close enough to been seen yet, Jodie and James got out of the car and insisted Conan remain inside. Annoyed, but not in a position to exactly argue, he gave them the final directions and set about mulling over facts, suspicions and theories and trying to place them into a better sense of order.

_They are looking for something, and I'd be willing to eat my soccer ball if it wasn't some important information that a hacker somehow managed to scrounge up online. However they don't know who the hacker is, or who they've given the information to if they had accomplices or clients. This is why they have been targeting any and all competent hackers in Japan, and possibly in other countries as well if the situation calls for it. The information must be __**extremely**__ important for them to take such large and risky extremes to retrieve it. _

_The "friends" that Hibiki-san had been allowing into the theatre are actually his clients and the red cord is a mass-transfer line for large portable memory drive that allows extra-ordinary sharing of mass amounts of data in a matter of seconds rather than minutes. Most outlets don't supply enough power to sustain the drive, however the outlets used to run the projector equipment for the movie theatre are just barely compatible – just barely but not quite there as sometimes it would cause the circuits to overload and the breaker to trip causing the "problems" the theatre had been having with that particular piece of equipment. Otherwise there was nothing wrong with it; with the manager's decision to have an employee watch over the projector rather than replace the expensive piece of equipment he just made the ideal situation for Hibiki's criminal activities._

_Of course this was all overlooking the fact that such a drive is illegal for normal citizens to own in Japan, so it is surprising that Hibiki-san would leave evidence of owning one behind willingly. This logically concludes that he was forced out of the theatre in a hurry. But if he was threatened in such a way, why had he looked so calm in the back of the car? _Feeling like he was missing something important and blatantly obvious, Shinichi scratched the right side of his head roughly, mussing up his normally neat hair into a bed-headed doo. Any further speculations were cut off swiftly by the sound of muffled but disturbingly close gun-shots.

Blood turning into razor shards in his heart he leaped to the floor of the car just in time for the black leather seat where he had been sitting in moments before to become an explosive impersonation of a fluffy sheep face. In rapid succession three more shots pierced through the glass and would surely have hit and possibly killed him if had been just a little bit bigger. As it was he felt one graze like lightning across his right shoulder and instinctively tried to shove his small form deeper underneath the passenger seat of the car. A louder, but nearly as close shot pierced the air and whoever had been trying to assassinate him vanished just as quickly as they had appeared. Braving a glance in-between the front seats and out the bullet-cracked windshield he only managed to see a fleeting figure in all black, their head covered by a black bike-helmet and a thick non-descript leather jacket.

"Cool kid!" Jodie's voice sounded from the rear of the car, and although he instinctively looked in the direction he couldn't see her. _Must be crouched behind the car for shielding._ "Are you alright?" Her voice cracked with the effort of trying to suppress its' volume against the fear for the boy's safety that had provoked her into such a dangerous position.

"I'm fine, what happened?" Conan hissed back as he eased closer to the door of the car so that they could converse easier in lower volumes just in case another shooter appeared.

"I don't think they were expecting us to show up, but they most certainly were expecting someone too. They had a sniper set up in the woods just beyond Gin's car and had a scout further out, that was the man who was just shooting at you. James is wounded from taking out the sniper, but not severely. That bastard has good senses," she hissed in frustration, and it didn't take a leap in logic for Shinichi to realize she meant Gin; after all he had first hand knowledge to just how good the silver-haired man's instincts were, "the moment he sensed trouble he shot the hacker in the head, dumped his body in the woods, took his laptop and speed off before we could so much as shoot at his tires. Our back-up should be here momentarily, but we can't stay here much longer. Even in the middle of such a sparsely populated area there has to have been someone who heard the shots, and I don't doubt the police are on their way now." Nodding in agreement even though he knew the FBI agent couldn't see him he responded.

"Once you are certain the coast is clear, get Black-san and the sniper out of here, I can deal with the police for you. No buts Jodie-sensei," he cut her off before she had even been able to draw a breath to protest. "We need to know what information Hibiki-san managed to leave behind before he was killed; also I have a small bullet graze that I'll need to explain. It's nothing serious," he headed her off once again, they didn't have time to deal with her worry for his safety - although he appreciated it he was after all a professional just like her. "I don't think I'll even need stitches!" He finished with a sharp rise in his voice to give the impression he was smiling his usual aren't-I-so-cute Conan smile even though his face had remained in a neutral expression.

"Jodie, it's clear now." James' voice cut in through the silence that had descended over the duo for the last few moments. Perking his head cautiously up enough to see the older American approach, Shinichi took in just as quickly the figures of two other foreigners who were supporting a limp body dressed in the same way as the person who had tried to take him out. He instantly recognized the two as other FBI agents and before he could so much as reach for the door handle the car door opened with such force that the hinges creaked in protest. Without any warning Conan was scooped up into Jodie's arms and was being given a frantic examination. Only his Conan-mask prevented him from hissing in pain as her worried fingers found and examined the graze on his shoulder. Shaking her off not unkindly Conan turned his attention to James as he finished approaching with a limp. _That HAS to hurt._ Shinichi thought dryly as he took in the two inch-long stab wound in the older man's right thigh and he was silently impressed at the self control that prevented any other signs of pain from showing due to the injury apart from the limp.

"Let's get out of here." James said with a gentle and understanding pat on the female's right shoulder, instantly bringing her back to reality and with a final glance of worry Jodie brought back her professional agent mask. "Sorry kid, he found the tracer." James finished as he dropped the crushed device into Conan's small hand. Honestly Conan hadn't even noticed that it had stopped working as his glasses had run out of power shortly after they parked.

"Be careful cool kid." Jodie added quietly after she had assisted the other agents with getting the unconscious assassin into the back seat of the car and slid in herself.

Nodding, Conan waved goodbye as the four agents and their new captive drove away in the shot-up car and he quickly pulled out his phone. Without having to think about it he was dialing yet another number he knew by heart, this time it was Megure-keibu's cell phone number.

* * *

Whew, that was longer than I thought it'd be :P Okay, a couple of notes –

1) I don't know if such drives are really illegal in Japan, I just know that they are illegal in some states if the owner does not have a legitimate business license and business that needs them. And YES they are known for causing breakers to fry (it happened to an acquaintance of mine – the only thing that saved his computer was his surge protector) – they are generally used in the film industry and range from 1 terabytes to 30 terabytes that I know of 0.o The cords can be black, red or even blue or black with stripes in one of those colors...

2) I honestly couldn't remember how James Black preferred to be called since it's been so long since we last saw him in the manga, much less had any character call him by name, so if I got it wrong I apologize and if brought to my attention I'll fix it right away!

3) I do not claim to have much knowledge of Japanese, much less Tokyo city's geographical layout. What I do know is gained from Google Maps :P

4) For those who are anxiously waiting for Kaito/Kid to make his appearance, I don't mind dropping the bomb that it's going to be a while before he makes a full appearance – however to get the Kai goodness in I might have him make a couple of cameo appearances, so be looking for him! -.~

5) Also Kudos to whoever figures out the piece of info that Shin-chan is missing! If you have a theory send me a PM about it rather than spoiling it for other readers by placing it in your review. If you can even figure out where I'm going with this I'm even willing to throw in Kaitos and Hattoris (even a Hakuba if your into those) lol...

**luminousSpark: **I'm glad it's got you excited *hands popcorn and soda* Enjoy the update! ^^

**NekoHatake: **Ask and you shall receive (even if it's a bit sporadic) lol… *offers popcorn and soda also*

**Eyeinthesky: **Sorry about that *checks to see if neck is ok* I'll warn you now, I am a LOVER of cliffhangers and randomly leaving characters in the dark for long periods of time while I focus on events of other characters (I blame it on J.R.R. Tolkien's influence, he's been one of my favorite authors since elementary) . But I hope that you can forgive me for that and continue to read and enjoy my FF ^.^


	3. Chapter 3 Fate's Annoyances

_**Fate's Annoyances**_

If you were to ask a certain police officer today was not a good day. He had known from the moment he shuffled out of bed that anything that could go wrong would.

For starters, his bathroom light went out on him while in the shower. This shoved him into what quickly proved to be a dangerous situation if the lump on his head that his bathroom floor had whole-heartedly given him when he unjustly slipped and conked it was any indication. It was still pounding nearly seven hours - and a near over-dose on pain killers - later.

Next he had come to realize that his milk had spoiled, AFTER he took a big swig of it; a mouse had gotten into his rice; and because of a painstaking amount of work to deal with he hadn't done any dishes in more than week – meaning all his dishes were now dirty and he didn't have the drive to deal with them anytime soon. After deciding to just go out for breakfast he realized he had left his wallet at home AFTER he got to the restaurant and consequently had to go back home. His car then decided to die on him a block away from the restaurant and his cell phone battery died while trying to call a tow truck. He had managed to find a store owner who was willing to let him use a phone, but the moment he hung up some freaked out man tried to rob the place. Only a sudden bout of klutziness that caused the officer to trip over a chair saved him from being pierced by a six-inch knife. Granted it was good he didn't get stabbed, but he now had black bruises down his right thigh and he left wrist was hurting slightly.

It was nearly lunch time by the time he got his car back home, and hoping that the afternoon had to defiantly be better than his morning, the officer had proceeded to call his girlfriend/partner to confirm their date in two hours time.

THAT was when the bright point he had been looking forward to for over a long dark week turned out to have other plans, and their date for two turned out to become a group outing with five kids, a co-worker and his girlfriend. FURTHERMORE his 'date' then had the gall to send him to take over the seat of one of those kids to keep the two little girls of the group from being frightened by the movie they had decided to come and see. Of course if that wasn't bad enough, the boy who he had taken over for had been gone for nearly half of the movie now, and he couldn't help a sliver of worry edge through his black thoughts. Even though he knew that Conan-kun was far more than he seemed to be and more than capable of taking care of himself, he still was fond of the boy and couldn't help but worry about him – especially with the unnerving way he ALWAYS seemed to be at or near a murder scene.

Sighing intensely again when he felt his cell phone vibrate, his depression took a dive off of the nearest cliff and waved at him cheerily before sinking him into a depression so black he wondered that he hadn't gone blind yet. There would only be one reason for anyone to be calling him today, and he most certainly did NOT want to answer a call he already knew the reason for. Behind him he sensed rather than saw his two co-workers also start when their phones vibrated.

Most defiantly, today was NOT Takagi Wataru's day. As he felt his left leg muscles start to tingle from the insistent vibrating he stood up and pulled the demonic device out of his pocket to stop its annoyance. Apologizing to the two young girls, he joined his girlfriend/partner and co-worker Shiratori-san as they swiftly exited the theatre to go to a murder scene they already knew that they might not be able to solve, and left behind five intensely curious detectives in training.

As much as he hated to admit it, Takagi was sure he already knew where the four eyed, chibi-detective had gone, and couldn't stop his gut from hoping that maybe, this time, he might get some answers to lots of confusing questions.

* * *

Poor Takagi, ha ha… I hadn't really honestly meant to pick on him, but I had a bad day today and it's just getting worse, so I took my stress out on him… I'm honestly sorry Takagi! *gives her favorite police man a big hug* Thanks for making me feel better at least! As a reward the next time I write with him as the POV it'll be happy one :P

So today's update is a drabble, and I apologize in advance if there's any errors or if something doesn't make sense. I've only had an hour of sleep in the last thirty-two hours and so I'm only writing this right now to keep myself awake in class ; If you see anything just let me know and I'll fix it once I've gotten some rest and my day becomes better ^^

**NekoHatake – **well if I ever get myself out of being chronically distracted I might do some fan-art, and while that might not be as good as a movie, it's still more than having to use your imagination, haha… *steals a piece of popcorn* Oh and btw, your profile is hilarious and almost as addictive as pistachios, it's kept me awake and chuckling for the last two hours of class, heh :P


	4. Chapter 4 Annoying Fate: Part One

_**Annoying Fate: Part One**_

Even as Shinichi talked to Megure-keibu he was examining the ground around where Black-san had parked the car to try and discover what evidence _could _be found and how to formulate it into a believable story without betraying the FBI's _**nor **_Megure's and the Police Department's trust in him - as both Conan and Shinichi. Although it had been annoying at the time to have been left behind in the car when they first arrived, he now found that he was slightly grateful as it allowed some leeway into his personal rendition of the day's events; especially after he began to move towards the crime scene. The ground around the area was hard packed and slightly gravely which made footprints nearly impossible to detect - thanks partially to the dryness of the season and partially to a gravel mine the next valley over. Although the area was forested, there wasn't too much undergrowth so broken branches indicating where someone had passed through weren't all that prevalent, and best of all the tire tracks from Gin's car were clearly visible where Vodka had peeled out when they took off.

By the time Conan finished his conversation with Megure and hung up he had come to a logical explanation to both his and the dead movie theatre attendant's reasons for being there. There weren't many things that Shinichi absolutely hated, but among them the most prominent were murderers, being underestimated and ignored, and having to lie to the people important to him – and to his eternal shame he was counting on all three of those things to make it through this incident.

It only took him a few minutes to reach the scene of the confrontation, and with a heavy heart he took in the attendant's figure: spread eagle on the ground, broken glasses flung to the side and disbelieving face with pale brown eyes asking a question from the blue sky that no one living could fully answer. Giving a deep sigh, he paused a moment to respect the fallen man. No matter how often he saw death it was still hard to look at; to bear the knowledge that what had once been a warm, thinking person a moment before was now nothing more than an empty, cold cask. Finally reaching the unfortunate man's side, Conan's sharp eyes noticed something that he hadn't been able to see before – the man's hands. Instantly drawn to them, he crouched down by the right hand where it was splayed out and in just a matter of milliseconds realized what detail had called out to him. Frantically he whipped out his cell phone and was dialing even as he heard the police sirens approaching in the distance.

"Jodie-sensei!" eyes suddenly frantic he practically screamed into the slim, black device when he heard a cautious hello from the other end. "Hibiki-san wasn't the hacker they were looking for!"

"What?" came back the instantaneous, astonished cry in English before the American woman remembered to speak in Japanese. "What do you mean, he wasn't the hacker?"

"He has severe rheumatoid arthritis! He would have difficulties just manipulating the mouse, never mind typing!" looking hard at the dead man's hands, Shinichi noted how the joints were swollen and the digits curved into painful-looking, unnatural, swan neck-like positions. Next his eyes darted to the normal places on the man's clothing where one would expect to find buttons and instead discovered snaps, zippers and Velcro, and as his eyes traveled to the left hand he noted that Hibiki's watch was a simple slip on. That the man couldn't even manage something as simple as a watch clasp cemented his theory. "I think he was a patsy for the real hacker, and I have a good idea on who that is." _Yes, _he thought to himself,_ that's why they said that weird thing; I was just too distracted to recognize it at the time. _Cursing himself at this slight slip-up, understandable though it was considering the circumstances, it was still unacceptable to him that he hadn't paid more attention to it. "The real hacker is another theatre attendant, by the name of Natushi-san." As he gave her the teen's description he prayed that she would be able to get back to the theatre in time to find him, although Shinichi doubted that the guy would still be there; not after realizing that his fall-guy had been abducted by his "client".

As he finished his rushed conversation, three cars - two standard police squads and the third a private vehicle - rolled up to his location. With a snap he shut his phone swiftly and ran up to the first squad car, in which a large, portly man was emerging from the passenger side door. He wasn't very tall, nor was he very intimidating in any manner; rather he seemed like an overgrown, pale, furless teddy bear playing dress up as a police man. However his beady eyes were deep with experience and as the shadow from his hat slanted down to deepen their depth they seemed to be slightly mysterious. With a calmness that fully expressed the experience in those eyes Megure-keibu looked over the scene just as calmly as he looked over the young boy approaching him. As swift as the wind ruffling through the trees, the look vanished from the inspector's features and turned into one of exasperation.

"I don't know who's got the bigger death toll lingering over them, you or Mouri-kun." Megure deadpanned to the young boy who merely smiled a forced, ailing smile and rubbed the back of his mussed head in discomfort. _Technically it's all me, the old man just happens to be with __**me**__ at those times. _Shinichi sweat dropped as his Conan-mask slipped to display his own true feelings of distressed anxiety. Well, hadn't he **wanted **and **asked** for this earlier today? The notion was tossed even before it could fully structure itself, he wouldn't allow the thought to form lest it begin to fester into something far more taxing than discomforted guilt. "Well, guess it's not really your fault." Megure let out with a sigh as he fondly patted the boy's head to dispel the odd expression that had appeared in those too-intelligent eyes.

"So, what exactly are you doing here Conan-kun?" The calm, melodious tenor voice from his left broke the guilt fest that was beginning to form around the inspector and young detective. Eyes and expression so calm that they almost seemed to border on apathy, gazed down from the tall officer that had emerged from the private car. Behind Shiratori-san, Takagi and Sato had just climbed out from the same vehicle and looked by turns concerned and curious as they registered Conan's presence. Underneath the calmness he oozed, Shiratori was beginning to feel the kindling interest he had just recently started to develop in the seven-year-old begin to get bigger.

Up until recently he had simply written off the boy as genius like several others Shiratori had met in his life-time – being the son of a prominent family, and possessing above-average intelligence himself, had allowed him to study with the best Japan had offer – but ever since the incident with that murderess he had mistaken for his destined Kobayashi-san he had begun to notice oddities that went beyond the normal quirks of a genius child. Like this cursed habit of always being at a crime scene - predominantly scenes involving murder - additionally, at every one of those scenes the crime was proven beyond doubt, the guilty party arrested with a neat little confession, and all done in record time. They were generally solved by Mouri-san - although the Suzuki girl and the Hakase had a few under their belts also – but even so, there were times when he felt like the young boy had solved it long before all of them, a feeling that was becoming more dominant now that he was using a more critical eye in observing him. Although Shiratori still lacked Megure's or the Commissioner's experiences, he had in his own experiences only ever seen one such clean streak of closed cases, and those all belonged to a recently rarely-seen teenaged detective by the name of Kudo Shinichi.

"Yes, Conan-kun, how'd you get here from the theatre?" Asked Sato-san as she placed her hands on her hips and glared down at him. Behind her Takagi looked over her shoulder and Shiratori didn't miss the way his former rival looked at the boy. It was the first time he consciously noticed and acknowledged that stare, but now that he did, Shiratori realized that Takagi-kun often gazed that way at Conan-kun. It was not the look an older person gave to a younger boy, rather it was more akin to the look a junior gave to a superior while awaiting orders, and with a shock Shiratori realized it was the same look his junior officer gave to Megure-keibu and Sato-san. Moreover with a greater shock, he realized that it was more than just a look, he clearly realized that Takagi-kun WOULD in fact follow any orders given by Conan-kun; and not just Takagi-kun, but all the adults gathered here, himself included, would ALSO obey his instructions and answer his questions without thinking twice about it. As Conan-kun began his explanation, Shiratori was left wondering how, and when, this state of affairs had started and why it didn't bother him in the least.

* * *

Hey fife and rife,  
The muse and real life,  
Did battle in a great big room,  
The little computer laughed to see such sport,  
And the storyline ran away with the spoon…

*coughs*

Weeeelll, anyways, got my update up…

*coughs again*

Course, that's no thanks to my muse and real life *looks over shoulder and watches muse as he battles real life with a pen* But geeze, because of my muse's distraction my story-line is starting to run away from me, I honestly never meant to switch into Shiratori's point of view, but somehow it just kinda happened ' *sweatdrop* All well, I kinda like that it did, as it makes some events I had planned for later on a bit easier to write, heh… ^^ And yes, I'm mean and purposely left out just what alternate scenario Shinichi had come up with, that'll come next chappy ^_^

Thanks to all those who've read my FF! Close to a thousand hits already! *throws confetti, and disrupts the battle*

Muse: Yes, thanks, and to all those who've marked this story I shall give my… *gets shoved to the side and interrupted by real life*

Real Life: Expect the next few updates to probably be drabbles, as I'm conspiring to have Daya forced to move within the next month, and she still doesn't have a new place to move TO yet. Plus there's the issue wit… *gets interrupted by Muse*

Muse: Yeah right! I will FORCE her to not be able to concentrate on anything else until she gets a decent sized chapter written up!

Real Life: Yeah, you and what army?

Muse: Just watch me! That was not an idle threat you annoying tightwad of unwanted distractions and demands!

Daya: *watches as they start fighting again and sighs* Well, until next time, enjoy!


	5. Chapter 5 Annoying Fate: Part Two

_**Annoying Fate: Part Two**_

All he could hear was the pounding of his heart in his ears. From the moment he discovered THAT was missing he had started to become paranoid that his secret had been discovered, and then the events at the theatre had skyrocketed his terror into full blown panic; finding that note after the boy had left had finally pushed him over the edge. He couldn't remember leaving the theatre, or how he got onto the subway, but all he knew was that his life as he knew it was over. Luckily he had planned for such a situation and had several off shore accounts, false identification papers and a way off Japan. It sucked having to leave without saying goodbye but if he didn't want it to become a permanent goodbye he had to leave NOW.

So focused was he on his inner turmoil the man didn't hear the ruckus that was going on in the car behind him, which is why he failed to duck the broom handle that knocked him solidly across the temple.

"Ouch! That had to hurt!" The youthful, playful tenor voice was the last thing Natushi Ryichi heard before he fell into unconsciousness.

* * *

"I see, so that's what happened." Megure-keibu said with a sigh as he nodded and accepted the bunch of BS Conan had just fed to him. "Well at least you weren't seriously hurt, this could have been a lot worse." Nodding in agreement the officers surrounding the boy finished their tasks and began to leave the scene of the crime. Shinichi's heart was heavy with the lies he been forced to tell, having to alter the truth never did sit well with him, especially since if he ever failed to miss a detail that someone else caught it would become the PD's reputation on the line and their trust in him would be forever shot. Giving a slight hiss of pain as the paramedic that was attending his injury pressed just a little too hard onto the wound, Shinichi was oddly grateful for the discomfort, it was at least keeping him from sinking into a worry fest.

"My name will be kept out of the papers right?" He asked innocently. Megure's nod was reassuring; if THEY ever got wind of these circumstances they would most certainly hunt him down and kill everyone he knew indiscriminately.

"Well I've done all I can do, but I'd still suggest taking him to the hospital, just in case." The paramedic interjected as he handed Conan a lollipop (Conan decided he would give it to Genta later as a peace offering) and rubbed the boy's head fondly, silently impressed by the kid's resilience.

"I'll be alright, I've had worse!" Shinichi chirruped, and although it wasn't a lie he had to agree that it would be best if he did see a doctor, however he did not want to risk records. Their scout had defiantly known he was in the car and they were going to be bound to look for patients with gun injuries, and if his would-be assassin knew it had been a boy they had been firing at it would be just as dangerous as calling their phone number and chanting "~Come and get me.~" Besides, he knew a certain scientist who was just as good as any doctor, although he was sure Ai-chan would be sure to give him an ear-full later. He wondered how long her evil glares would last **this** time for being reckless around the BO.

"I can't believe someone would stoop so low." Sato-san gripped for the third time after hearing Conan's story. "Agreeing to kidnap any famous child they happened to see."

"Well it could've been worse; they could have been targeting Conan-kun from the start." Takagi said cautiously, trying to put a positive spin on the situation but failing miserably as Sato's face turned into a deeper frown. "I'm not saying that kidnapping anyone, especially Conan-kun is a good thing but... but…" He spoke as he waved his hands franticly trying to stem Sato's wrath.

"Yeah, they could've tried to take Aiyumi-chan or Ai-chan." Conan smiled up at the detectives as he jumped off the back of the ambulance. The obvious relief in Takagi's face at Conan's save would have been slightly amusing in different circumstances, but right now it just made Shinichi's heart ache more from the lies he had told.

"I personally would have liked to have gotten more details about the two that got away. You're positive you didn't see any distinguishing characteristics?" Shiratori-san asked once again as he bent over Conan.

"I'm sure. One was larger and muscular and the other was tall and thin. They were both dressed in black with ski-masks over their faces and dark sunglasses covering their eyes. They both had on gloves too. The car was black with tinted windows and was of Japanese make. I wasn't able to see anything else after they shoved me into the trunk. I could hear them though, they were arguing with the movie guy about some kind of package. They weren't very good kidnappers though, they didn't tie me up or remove the trunk emergency latch or anything. After the car stopped, they got out and started arguing even more, after I heard the gun shot, I jumped out and ran off."

"And that's when they shot at you." At Conan's nod Shiratori frowned at looked over at the ambulance that was taking Hibiki-san's body to the hospital. There was something about Conan's story that bothered him, but he couldn't seem to place it. Before he could think of another question to ask the boy Megure's phone went off, and it only took two seconds for everyone to figure out who was on the other line, the person was so loud.

"Mouri-kun…" Megure sweat dropped at his former junior's antics, but patiently listened, while everyone else tried to pretend they couldn't hear the man's ranting over the phone.

* * *

Heyas everyone!

So, two moves, one fried laptop, college graduation, a new job, and a second job later I'm finally back with an update!

I do greatly apologize for the extremely long hiatus, but I thank everyone who has been asking when the next chappy will be up, it really was encouraging. Although things are still extremely chaotic in RL, I haven't forgotten this story, although I had to pretty much re-write all my notes when my old laptop fried and I realized I had never made a back-up copy *sweatdrop*

I don't know how often future updates will be, as I've got very limited free time, but I'm shooting for every couple of weeks… ^^

As it's been well over a year since I last updated I noticed that my writing style has changed a bit, so I hope it's not too drastic of change, but I'm not going to go back and re-write the older chapters, as I figure new ones would be more appreciated, lol…

Cheers, and Happy Holidays!


End file.
